Ischemic stroke occurs when neural tissue is damaged due to low oxygen levels. Magnetic resonance imaging detects three distinct areas in the brain of a stroke patient. The first, called the core, is the area that receives little or no oxygen, and experiences severe necrosis. A second area consists of normal tissue that receives sufficient oxygen. The third area falls between the core and the normal tissue, and is called the penumbra. Functionally, the penumbral area has compromised blood flow (CBF) and decreased oxygen consumption (CMRO2), which translates into neurons that are still viable but stressed. Over the course of several days following a stroke, the core gradually expands into the penumbra. Treatments for ischemic stroke are extremely limited, in part because of the lack of adequate in vitro models for ischemic stroke. There is a need in the art for an ischemic stroke model that allows one not only to study the basic biology of the core and penumbra but to test novel therapeutic interventions.